So what does Oregon do now at running back?

After Thursday night’s melee in Boise, it’s incomprehensible to think that LeGarrette Blount will participate in Oregon’s second game of the season, next Saturday against Purdue in the home opener at Autzen Stadium.

Heck, it’s going to be shocking if Blount isn’t suspended for multiple games, at least from where I’m sitting. (Which is to say, in a Boise hotel room at 3:42 a.m. local time, so pardon me if I’m wrong.)

But the Ducks’ issues at running back go well beyond Blount’s probable suspension. Andre Crenshaw didn’t play tonight as far as I can tell, and that presumably had at least something to do with the foot injury he suffered last week in practice.

Also, junior Remene Alston didn’t even make the trip to Boise. He’s not injured, best we can tell, and based on all the walk-ons who made the trip, there’s no reason to think he was left home for performance reasons. Something’s got to be going on there.

And between Blount, Crenshaw and Alston, that’s all three UO running backs who had any experience prior to Thursday night.

What’s left on the depth chart are redshirt freshmen LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner. Both showed glimpses of their impressive athleticism Thursday. But each still only has just one game of college experience. And, with all due respect to walkons Craig Loper and Jide Shinaba, you need more than two running backs on the roster.

So, it stands to reason that a position switch may be in order for somebody else on the team.

A year ago, the next best candidate was Eddie Pleasant, whose 40-yard dash time was the same as James’ over the winter. But Pleasant is now entrenched as the starting strongside linebacker, and it’s hard to see the Ducks moving him over to offense to be a backup.

Just guessing here, but I’d say the next logical candidate is redshirt freshman cornerback Scott Grady. He ran for nearly 1,300 yards as a senior at Tigard High School in Oregon, and is in the mix as a kick returner with the Ducks. Plus, he’s no better than second-string on defense, so you wouldn’t be hurting that unit by moving him to running back.

And you simply have to move somebody to running back at this point if you’re Oregon, unless Crenshaw and Alston are good to go this week. Right?